Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 334 Start of Construction

Dr. Luo's approach is more suitable for future large-scale production expansion. Although it's costly, ordinary undergraduate chemistry students can master several key steps after two months of training. Chen Jian's approach, on the other hand, is currently highly dependent on Chen Jian himself. Others who want to learn it will find it difficult to gain any real skill in less than a year, as the process requirements are too high.

After Yan Hui understood this, he actually breathed a sigh of relief. Now that Chen Jian was a shareholder, he could just let Chen Jian keep an eye on production. Chen Jian had also said that he could manage to oversee all 12 sets of reactors.

Currently, low cost is an absolute advantage, and it is also Yan Hui's greatest strength.

The loan of 220 million is being continuously depleted.

In the early stages, Yan Hui spent over a million yuan on raw materials alone, and another 300,000 yuan on related warehousing equipment, temperature control equipment, etc. In addition, the expenses for trial production and experiments caused Yan Hui's funds to shrink rapidly.

Fortunately, 220 million is still quite a lot, and Yan Hui is finally not so short of money anymore.

“Boss, we’ve finally made it this far,” Chen Jian said, holding the production license with a touch of melancholy.

"Yes, it hasn't been easy. We started the experiment at the end of 03, and it's been almost three years now." Yan Hui gently put the license away.

There's really nowhere to put this now, because the company doesn't even have an office building anymore.

After the construction site was completed, the factory manager was given a slightly better two-story mobile prefabricated building, which became Yan Hui and Chen Jian's office.

"Besides the materials used in the experiment, we currently have raw materials worth about 800,000 yuan, which can produce about 14,000 liters. I've roughly calculated that we can finish production within half a month. At that time, we can probably seal about 20,000 tubes." Chen Jian took out a tube and demonstrated to Yan Hui.

Polyurethane adhesive comes in containers similar to those used for common silicone sealant, with a pressurized area and an adhesive outlet, allowing buyers to use it immediately after purchase.

Yan Hui referenced Henkel and Sika products and decided to use the same style and capacity of the product—700ml per tube.

Henkel of Germany and Sika of Switzerland are both industry leaders, with technology that is at least 20 years ahead of Heng Hui Chemical. For the same 700ml of polyurethane adhesive, the price of Henkel and Sika is between 120-140 yuan.

The cost for Yan Hui's side of this one tube of polyurethane is...

45 yuan.

The cost referred to here is only the cost of materials, excluding electricity, labor, factory, and other expenses. However, other costs can be quickly amortized through large-scale production.

Since Dr. Luo's patent has been made public, Chen Jian was able to calculate it clearly. He gave Yan Hui a rough estimate—for Dr. Luo's production line, the material cost for the same 700ml product would not be less than 54 yuan.

This was data that Yan Hui was very satisfied with; the other party's cost was 20% higher than his!

As for whether it can rapidly expand to large-scale production, that's all nonsense. If all 12 reactors are operating at full capacity, the company's weakness is actually sales.

Over the next few days, Yan Hui continued to spend money. The previous construction workers were clearly incapable of handling factory production, so he had to hire skilled workers with at least a high school diploma and experience operating machinery. In addition, Yan Hui hired a foreign language major who could understand most English instruction manuals and would be of assistance to Chen Jian.

Yan Hui is recruiting workers here, while Chen Jian is also recruiting technicians at the same time, planning to find 4-6 master's degree holders to assist him. Laboratories are extremely important for chemical companies; in the subsequent production process, every batch of raw materials needs to be tested and verified by the laboratory. Although the raw materials come from some large companies, even large companies cannot guarantee that quality control will be flawless.

Yan Hui was also running around, making all the preparations and finding almost all the relevant personnel. On this day, he came to find Chen Jian again.

"There are no problems now, but we must ensure quality control. I recently bought a digital camera. During the production process, please remember to take some photos that won't leak information but can demonstrate our technical capabilities. I'll need them when I go out to discuss business," Yan Hui said.

Does this digital camera have a photography function?

"Yes, I can record a video and burn it onto a CD. I need it when I go out."

“No problem, I know how to film it.” Chen Jian understood what was going on as soon as he heard that.

"We're short-staffed right now, and it'll probably take at least a month to recruit more people. But I'll be in charge of everything except production, and you'll be in charge of production."

"That's no problem. My wife, Xiao Song, and I, plus the two master's students we recently found, are enough for now."

“Xiao Song has to come with me,” Yan Hui shook his head. “When I go out to discuss business, the first step is to connect with the company’s laboratory. I can’t explain it clearly.”

"So, you mean Song Zhiyuan won't be with us in the lab anymore?" Chen Jian asked, feeling a little disappointed.

"Well, his academic qualifications aren't good enough, and his basic experimental skills aren't good either. He can't be of much help to you in experiments. Especially if you want to continue doing scientific research in the future, you definitely can't rely on him."

"Fine, take it if you want it." Chen Jian had no other choice but to agree.

“Last night, I considered the issue of raw materials. For a chemical plant like ours, raw materials are a crucial step. I don’t plan to set up a dedicated purchasing department. Our current raw materials are very limited, just a few main ones. Among them, the most important is polyether. I will be responsible for negotiating the money, and you will be responsible for negotiating the quantity and quality.” Yan Hui proposed a new concept—letting suppliers manage the inventory.

Simply put, it involves proactively integrating suppliers into the chemical plant's workshop system, allowing them to directly connect with the workshop and eliminate intermediaries such as procurement. As for procurement, Yan Hui's role is simply to handle the payments.

Most companies wouldn't dare do this because there are many shady dealings involved in the buying and selling of commodities. But Yan Hui isn't worried about that at this stage.

The company is currently in dire need of rebuilding, and Chen Jian would never do such a dirty thing, especially since he is a shareholder. Besides, Chen Jian doesn't know much about sales, so having him directly liaise with suppliers is the most suitable approach. With Yan Hui and Zhou Ping handling the accounts, things will stay in order.

"Okay, no problem." Chen Jian nodded; this was indeed much more convenient.

"There's one more thing I must emphasize again. We must ensure that the raw materials from our suppliers are tested. If the test results are unsatisfactory, we should contact them directly. If the test results are satisfactory, but our products are still substandard, then it's our own problem," Yan Hui explained in great detail.

"Do not worry."

"Okay, let's get started!" Yan Hui clenched his fist.

(End of this chapter)